Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Indexly VS Substack

Compare Indexly VS Substack and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Indexly logo Indexly

Indexly is an AI search visibility platform for brands and marketing teams

Substack logo Substack

With Substack, anyone can start a publication that combines a personal website, blog, and email newsletter or podcast. It's quick and simple.
  • Indexly AI Search Visibility Time Series
    AI Search Visibility Time Series //
    2026-03-16
  • Indexly Brand Sentiments
    Brand Sentiments //
    2026-03-16
  • Indexly Prompt Tracking
    Prompt Tracking //
    2026-03-16

Indexly is an AI Search Visibility platform that helps brands understand, improve, and measure how they appear in AI search engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, and Google AI Overviews. Its core capabilities include:

AI Search Visibility โ€“ Monitor how AI engines mention your brand across prompts, competitors, sentiment, and citations. Content Optimization (AEO/GEO) โ€“ Generate and optimise content designed to increase the likelihood of being cited by AI search engines. Reddit & LinkedIn Authority โ€“ Identify opportunities to build authority on platforms that AI models frequently reference. AI Traffic Analytics โ€“ Measure website visits originating from AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. Traditional SEO โ€“ Monitor website performance, keyword opportunities, and backlinks quality Agency & Enterprise Features โ€“ White-label reporting, APIs, collaboration, and multi-client management.

The platform is designed for:

Marketing teams Banking and finance solutions companies B2B SaaS companies E-commerce brands AEO Agencies D2C companies

  • Substack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-26

Indexly

Website
indexly.ai
$ Details
paid $99.0 / Monthly
Platforms
Web
Release Date
2024 April
Startup details
Country
India
State
Karnataka
City
Bangalore
Founder(s)
Deepti Masurkar
Employees
1 - 9

Substack

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Platforms
-
Release Date
-
Startup details
Country
United States

Indexly features and specs

  • AI Brand Visibility
    Measure Prompt analysis for LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude. Benchmark your AI Brand Visibility against competitors
  • Brand Sentiment
    Check how AI Models talk about you and your competitors
  • Citation Analysis
    Analyze the sources AI models use to cite you and your competitors

Substack features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Substack offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for writers to publish and monetize their newsletters.
  • Built-in Monetization
    Writers can easily charge readers for subscriptions, allowing for straightforward monetization.
  • Direct Audience Connection
    Substack allows writers to build a direct relationship with their audience via email, which can lead to a more engaged readership.
  • Discovery and Community
    Features like staff picks and recommendations help writers get discovered by new readers.
  • No Upfront Costs
    Substack does not charge upfront fees; instead, it takes a percentage of subscription revenues, making it easier to start.
  • Content Ownership
    Writers retain full ownership of their content, giving them more control over their work.

Possible disadvantages of Substack

  • Revenue Share
    Substack takes a 10% cut of subscription revenues, which can add up for writers with a large subscriber base.
  • Limited Customization
    The platform has limited customization options compared to building a custom website or using more flexible CMS options.
  • Dependency on Platform
    Relying on Substack means depending on its policies and infrastructure, which could pose risks if the platform changes its terms or features.
  • Competition
    As more writers join Substack, it can become challenging to stand out amidst the growing competition.
  • Email Deliverability
    Writers may face issues with email deliverability, as some newsletters may end up in spam folders.
  • Payment Processing Fees
    Besides Substack's fee, payment processors like Stripe also take a percentage, further reducing net earnings for writers.

Analysis of Substack

Overall verdict

  • Substack is a good choice for writers seeking autonomy and a straightforward way to monetize their content. However, it may not be the best fit for those who prefer working within the framework of a larger publication or those unfamiliar with the challenges of building and maintaining a subscriber base.

Why this product is good

  • Substack is a platform that allows writers, journalists, and content creators to publish and monetize their newsletters. It is praised for its ease of use, built-in subscription system, and direct-to-consumer model which enables writers to retain control over their audience and content. The platform has attracted both independent writers and established journalists seeking the freedom to monetize their work without traditional media constraints.

Recommended for

  • Independent writers and journalists
  • Content creators looking to monetize their work
  • Individuals seeking a direct relationship with their audience
  • Those who appreciate simplicity in publishing

Indexly videos

Indexly Introduction

Substack videos

Monetizing Podcasts and Newsletters - Chris Best of Substack and Jonathan Gill of Backtracks

More videos:

  • Review - E1016 Substack CEO Chris Best empowers writers via email newsletter platform, raised $15M from a16z
  • Review - Why EVERYONE should be on Substack | What it is, How it Works, $$$
  • Review - Beehiiv vs Substack (2024) - Which is Better?
  • Review - My Experience with SUBSTACK: An Honest Review of Substack

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Indexly and Substack)
SEO Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging
0 0%
100% 100
SEO
100 100%
0% 0
CMS
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Indexly and Substack.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Indexly's answer

Experience optimal user experience at an affordable price. Take advantage of our free trial period now!

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Indexly's answer

Content Creators/Website Developers/SEO agencies

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

Indexly's answer

We have startups using Indexly to increase organic traffic. Visit our website for more information.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

Indexly's answer

Developed a tech-enabled platform using Google APIs, designed to assist anyone in optimizing their content for SEO.

What makes your product unique?

Indexly's answer

With a long-term vision to create a technology-enabled platform for content creators, our goal is to provide a powerful tool to bring their content to life.

User comments

Share your experience with using Indexly and Substack. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Indexly and Substack

Indexly Reviews

  1. Zhook
    ยท Working at Zhook Inc ยท
    Super useful

    We're a startup in the digital note-taking space; our web pages used to rank very low on Google. Through Indexly, we figured out the keywords and pages where we needed to improve our content. When we updated the content and submitted the pages through Instant Indexing, within 3-4 days, the search position for our keywords bumped from 60s to 20s. Now that was real progress in a quick time.

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Keyword research|Instant indexing
  2. Sid
    ยท Building Pathbeat at Sid ยท
    Indexly has made our indexing reliable and easy

    Since we are a content driven platform, our SEO targets are steep. In the past, we had made it a point to keep updating Google Search console every time we published new content. Indexly has greatly simplified the process, made the process easy for us. The dashboard is very helpful.

    We have now made it a point to look at Indexly for our weekly reporting on SEO. Indexly has been helpful for us.

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Auto index|Keyword research
  3. Vestmint
    ยท Owner at Vestmint ยท
    Great platform for your SEO needs

    Indexly has made our webpages indexing faster and keyword tracking simpler. It is such a relief when Indexly automatically detects our newly published pages and submits them for indexing. With their amazing dashboard, we constantly track progress of our web pages with indexing errors, page impressions, clicks and how they rank on Google. Way to go!

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Auto index|Page analytics|Keyword research
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Few integrations

Best Tag Parrot Alternative in 2024 | Indexly - Auto index your pages
Tag Parrot and Indexly are two SEO tools that offer different features for optimizing website content. Tag Parrot's auto-indexing feature is powerful and effective for solving particular issues related to website indexing. On the other hand, Indexly provides advanced page analytics and keyword opportunities that go beyond auto-indexing and can significantly contribute to the...
Source: indexly.ai

Substack Reviews

25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
Substack offers writers of all experience levels the ability to write an email newsletter thatโ€™s profitable through subscriptions. Substack provides purpose-built web and newsletter publishing tools to enable writers to monetize their newsletters. It is a service often favoured by readers because itโ€™s a convenient all-in-one solution for writing a successful podcast that...
Source: forgefusion.io
10 Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
What sะตts Substack apart is its sะตamlะตss intะตgration of contะตnt crะตation and subscription-basะตd monะตtization. Substackโ€™s usะตr-friะตndly intะตrfacะต, distribution tools, and support for various contะตnt formats make it a popular choice for indะตpะตndะตnt crะตators looking to connะตct dirะตctly with thะตir audiะตncะต and turn thะตir passion into a sustainablะต incomะต strะตam.
9 Best Medium Alternatives for Making Money With Your Writing in 2023
Substack and Medium differ primarily in their monetization methods. Medium pays creators based on reader engagement, while Substack enables writers to monetize directly through paid subscriptions to their newsletters. This business model allows Substack users to build a direct relationship with their readers via their email inboxes, whereas Medium interactions primarily...
11 Patreon Alternatives for Audience Monetization in 2023
Like a few of the other platforms weโ€™ve looked at, Substack takes a cut of your earnings rather than charging a 10% platform fee.
Source: www.uscreen.tv
Any good Mailchimp alternatives?
My question for you is, what is keeping you from making $31 per month from your list? Are you using any feature that Substack (free until you get paid) can't handle?

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Substack seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 102 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Indexly mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Indexly yet. Tracking of Indexly recommendations started around Apr 2024.

Substack mentions (102)

  • Writing by Hand is Good for your Brain
    It's ironic that the article that caused him to write this post (https://substack.com/@justindeschamps/note/c-261265212?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=7y05q) is written by AI. I see this style of informational writing all over the place now. - Source: Hacker News / 17 days ago
  • Ask HN: What are your favorite blogs not about AI?
    Https://substack.com/@yelluwcomedy. - Source: Hacker News / 21 days ago
  • Kids (With Phones) Are Alright
    Sure there was basically a cartel in social media. You saw coordinated censorship campaigns to ban the former president of the United States for example. But I wouldn't discount the amount of political interference there as well. The last administration admitted to flagging individual posts for the social media companies. But it's also true there is a lot of coordinated censorship even without state interference.... - Source: Hacker News / 30 days ago
  • Financing the AI boom: from cash flows to debt [pdf]
    Manhattan Project: $36B, 5 years โ–ซ Apollo Program: $257B, 14 years โ–ซ Interstate Highway System: $620B, 37 years โ–ซ AI data centers: $930B, 6 years and still accelerating From: https://substack.com/@rubendominguez/note/c-244929068. - Source: Hacker News / 26 days ago
  • SpaceX to buy Cursor AI coding agent operator Anysphere for $60B
    The thing is, even the center of the road academics who refrain from such comparisons are noting the similarity. The MAGA movement meets the traditional defining characteristics of fascio. We can be rigid and say that only Mussoliniโ€˜s political movement can be properly be called fascist. But if we call Hitler and the Nazis fascists as well, then we open the door to any movement that meets the criteria. And Trump... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Indexly and Substack, you can also consider the following products

Writesonic - If youโ€™ve ever been stuck for words or experienced writerโ€™s block when it comes to coming up with copy, you know how frustrating it is.

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

Infigrowth - One platform to unlock limitless organic growth

Medium - Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.

ZeroRank - AI search is changing how people discover brands. ZeroRank AI helps you see where you rank, track your mentions, and take action before your competitors do.

Buttondown - Buttondown is the best way to start and run your newsletter